Apple Watch not a 'CO2-neutral product,' German court finds

An Apple spokesperson says the court ruling broadly supports their rigorous approach to carbon neutrality

Apple smartwatches are displayed as customers wait to buy them at the Apple store in New York, US, Dec 26, 2023. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz

Apple can no longer advertise its Apple Watch as a "CO2-neutral product" in Germany, following a court ruling on Tuesday that upheld a complaint from environmentalists, finding that the US tech company had misled consumers.

Apple had promoted the device online as "our first CO2-neutral product," a claim found by a panel of judges to be unfounded and in violation of German competition law, according to a statement from a regional court in Frankfurt.

An Apple spokesperson said the court ruling "broadly upheld our rigorous approach to carbon neutrality" and declined to comment on whether the company would appeal Tuesday's ruling.

In June, Apple had said the German lawsuit threatens "to discourage the kind of credible corporate climate action the world needs."

Still, a spokesperson referred on Tuesday to a report that Apple will phase out the 'carbon neutral' label it uses for Apple Watches in order to comply with EU legislation coming into force in Sept 2026 restricting the use of such terms.

Apple based its claim of carbon neutrality on a project it operates in Paraguay to offset emissions by planting eucalyptus trees on leased land.

The eucalyptus plantations have been criticised by ecologists, who claim that such monocultures harm biodiversity and require high water usage, earning them the nickname 'green deserts.'

However, the Frankfurt court said that leases for 75 percent of the project area were not secured beyond 2029 and that the company could not guarantee these contracts would be extended.

"There is no secure future for the continuation of the forest project," the statement said.

Alongside Apple, Meta and Microsoft have also invested in similar projects in Latin America in return for carbon credits.

Environmentalist group Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH), which brought the case against Apple, hailed the ruling as a success against "greenwashing."

"The supposed storage of CO2 in commercial eucalyptus plantations is limited to just a few years, the contractual guarantees for the future are not sufficient and the ecological integrity of monoculture areas is not guaranteed," DUH head Juergen Resch said in a statement.